Since this summer, three committees have been in the process of finding new top managers for Akershus, Østfold and Buskerud, which will be resurrected as counties. Over thirty meetings have been held. In particular, the employment committee in Buskerud has met frequently. Since June, the committee has held 16 meetings. Which means a large sum of money for several of the politicians who were involved. The one who gets the most agrees completely. – Yes, I think it’s an awful lot. It is very, very much, says Tore Opdal Hansen, who is deputy leader of the Conservative Party’s county council group in Viken. Former mayor of Drammen, Tore Opdal Hansen (H), has led the hiring process for a new top manager in Buskerud. Photo: Ragnar Gullseth Berge / news Large amount extra The former Drammen mayor chaired the meeting of the employment committee and therefore receives double remuneration. The payment will thus be NOK 7,300 per meeting. So after 16 meetings, the county politician is entitled to NOK 117,000 on top of the millions of income he already has. In the committee, Opdal Hansen included Bjørn Tore Ødegården (Ap) and Christina Mørkve (H), who each receive a paltry NOK 58,000 for their efforts. Opdal Hansen denies that money has been any motive. – We have not had compensation in mind at all. What we have been thinking about has been to do a good and thorough job, he says. He also points out that the county council only recently decided that Viken’s meeting rates should apply to these meetings. Incidentally, it was Jan Sivert Jøsendal who was elected as the future CEO of Buskerud. – Absolutely sick From an overview that news has received from Viken county council, it appears that more than half of the meetings were video meetings, and were set up with a length of one hour (see separate overview). Meetings in the Employment Committee in Buskerud 2 June: 1000-1100: Joint start-up meeting with Ak. and Eastf. (teams) 16 June: 0930 – 1130 Start-up meeting AU Buskerud (Drammen) 27 June: 0800 – 0900 Planning meeting AU Buskerud (teams) 12 Aug: 0930 – 1130 Review search candidates (teams) 18 Aug: 1400 – 2000 Mapping interviews with 4 candidates (Oslo) 19 Aug: 1230 – 1700 Mapping interviews with 4 candidates (Oslo) 21 Aug: 1900 – 2000 Planning meeting for further process (teams) 24 Aug: 1700 – 1830 Preparation for meetings with candidates (teams) 26 Aug: 0830 – 1800 Interviews with 2 candidates (Oslo) 29 Aug: 1700 – 2000 Interviews with 2 candidates (Oslo) 06 Sept: 1200 – 1900 2nd interview with 3 candidates (Oslo) 07 Sept: 0800 – 1000 Summary meeting (teams) 08 Sept: 1600 – 1700 Extraordinary meeting (teams) 09 Sept: 1100 – 1300 Review after reference check (teams) 09 Sept: 1545 – 1630 Status after reference check (teams) 11 Sept: 1300 – 1400 Review of conditions (teams) 12 Sept: 1530 – 1630 Content political matter etc. (teams) Source: County Council in Viken – So an hourly wage of over NOK 7,000 for an elected representative. It’s sick, says the deputy chairman of the municipal committee at the Storting Helge Andre Njåstad (Frp). – This is probably more than double what lawyers have. He adds sourly: The Parliamentary politician has already become irritated by what he believes are far too generous salaries in Viken. He thought it was reprehensible when news could report that all the politicians should have been paid extra to sit on the committees that were set up to plan the dissolution of Viken. After the announcement, the politicians turned around and withdrew the payment to the county’s full-time politicians. In Viken, there are no limits to how short meetings can be and still qualify for the full meeting fee for the participants, something news has already highlighted in another case. Ellen Christine Christiansen will be the new county director in Akershus. Further down in the case, you will get an answer to how many meetings the politicians spent on hiring her. Photo: Hallvard Mørk Tvete / Viken county council The part-time politicians earn the most The employment committees also included representatives from the county council. These are defined as full-time politicians and cannot receive meeting allowances at the top. Their salary is NOK 972,000, while the county council leader gets NOK 1.2 million a year. Paradoxically, it is the part-time politicians, such as Tore Opdal Hansen, who are the best paid in Viken. By combining various offices and positions in county and municipality, some of them have salaries that exceed the politicians around the king’s table. Also expensive in Østfold In Østfold too, the selection of a manager was a time-consuming process. Only after 10 meetings had the hiring committee settled on a candidate. That means more than NOK 70,000 extra to the Ap politician Cecilie Agnalt (Ap), who led the process there. In Akershus, they managed five meetings. The employment committee in Akershus was chaired by Bærum politician Anette Solli (H). As she is a group leader with a fixed salary, she does not get paid extra for attending meetings. A group leader receives around NOK 850,000 a year. But as we have previously told you, the Conservative Party has quietly raised the salaries of several of its county politicians, including Solli: Hi! Do you have tips, input or comments on the matter? In that case, please contact us by e-mail. We are also interested in input on other matters you think we should look into more closely.
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Politicians profited well from hiring new bosses in Buskerud, Akershus and Østfold – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
